Chaste
by TheTheatreGroupie
Summary: -Caution: Fluff.- Innocent. Pure. Untainted. Virtuous. Uncorrupted. Wholesome. Chaste. Everything Janet Weiss is... (set before the movie)


Graduation. The start of adulthood. Waiting all the way to the end of the alphabet to hear my name called out. Finally, the dean calls my name, "Janet Christina Weiss," and I approach the podium in my black graduation gown and cap, smiling as I receive my diploma and shake hands with the dean. I smile at my family in the second row, I smile at my friend's family behind them, and I smile at my boyfriend's family on the other side of the auditorium. We file out to the typical graduation music and once we're out, we run to our friends and family, full of animated energy.  
  
My boyfriend Brad is the first to find me. Never one for colossal public displays of affection, he takes my hand in his and we smile at each other. I love Brad so much with all of his cute shy behavior and adoring, affectionate gestures. Soon, my friend Betty appears with her boyfriend Ralph and an excited look on her face.  
  
Once Brad and Ralph go off talking like typical boys, Betty waves her hand in my face. "Oh, Janet, you'll never believe it!" There aren't many things I'll never believe, so I try to imagine what she might be talking about. I can't think of anything.  
  
"What is it, Betty?" Betty sticks her hand straight in front of me, revealing a shining diamond ring. "Ralph just asked me to marry him!"  
  
*****  
  
Memories. The summer after the tenth grade. The radio plays in the background. It's a hot and humid evening, the fan blowing in the window as we paint our nails and sing along, our hair up in rollers so it'll curl for the next morning and our heads thrown back in song. Betty, Isabella, Mae and I gossip about boys, other girls, and everything in between.  
  
As Mae winds her final roller and Isabella caps her nail polish, Betty sighs and collapses onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as the Beatles play on the radio. "I really like him," she says airily. We don't bother asking who; she's had a crush on Ralph for years. "Yeah?" I ask, flopping on the bed with my hands propping up my chin. "Do you think he knows?"  
  
"Do you think he knows? Janet, have you flipped? Of course he knows," Betty replies. "He's just too shy to do anything about it!"  
  
"Ought I to get Danny to ask him about it?" inquires Mae. She's just been asked out by her crush Danny, and she seems to love mentioning his name just so she can, just to say she's got a boyfriend. Betty rolls her eyes.  
  
"Of course not. Are you crazy? How silly would I look then?" Betty counters indignantly. "No, I'm just going to let him ask me in his own due time. It's not right for the girl to ask the boy out. You know that."  
  
"So you're just going to sit here and wait forever for him to ask you when you're perfectly capable?" Isabella questions. Betty looks positively mortified. I'm not far off. Isabella always has been sort of radical like that.  
  
"I'm just old-fashioned when it comes to love," Betty says, beginning to apply some pale pink nail polish to her fingers.  
  
"A little too old-fashioned, Betty my dear," Isabella puts in. "You're letting him walk all over you. We all know that he likes you, and that you like him, so why don't you just hurry up and ask him out yourself?"  
  
Betty looks like she's about to just pass out. "He'll ask me. I know he will." She remains firm in her convictions. I envy that. There's a boy I like. Brad Majors. He's not exactly the coolest guy. In fact, he's a little brainy, sort of shy. But he's a nice guy. I met him in my science class at school last year. I think he likes me too, but he's just too shy to do anything about it. Oh, the girls don't know I like him. I haven't told anyone. I wish that I knew he would ask me to go steady.  
  
As if on cue, the telephone rings in the hallway. Putting the lid on her pink polish, Betty runs into the hallway to get it. It must be an important call, because she doesn't return for a reasonable five minutes or so. When she finally does return, wearing a wide grin, we look at her expectantly. "Well? Who was it?" asks Mae impatiently, voicing the thoughts of all of us.  
  
"It was..." Betty begins to speak, but starts to giggle. "Oh, you'll never believe it! It was Ralph. He just called to ask me to go steady."  
  
Now that's perfect timing if I ever saw it, nearly like it was meant to happen, destined even. 


End file.
